Biography

Ted Lewin grew up in an old frame house in Buffalo, New York, with two brothers, one sister, two parents, a lion, an iguana, a chimpanzee, and an assortment of more conventional pets. The lion was given to his older brother, Don, while he was traveling as a professional wrestler, and he shipped it home. The family kept Sheba in the basement fruit cellar until Don returned and their mother convinced him to give it to the Buffalo zoo.

Ted always knew he wanted to be an illustrator. As a child he copied the works of illustrators and painters he admired, including N. C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Valazquez and Goya. When it came time to go to art school (Pratt Institute), he needed to earn money to finance his education. So, following in his brothers footsteps, he took a summer job as a professional wrestler – the beginning of a fifteen year part-time career that eventually inspired his autobiographical book I Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler.

Ted’s career as an artist began with illustrations for adventure magazines, but over the last thirty-five years he has devoted full time to writing and illustrating children’s books. “I’m having more fun doing this than anything I’ve ever done before,” he says. He is an avid traveler, and many of his books are inspired by trips to such places as the Amazon River, the Sahara Desert, Botswana, Egypt, Lapland and India. His ALA notable book Market!, published in 1996, showcases markets around the world, from Uganda to Ireland to Ecuador.

Touch and Go is a collection of stories about the adventures Ted had while researching his books. Gorilla Walk, about their trek to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda was his first collaboration with his wife, Betsy, with five more to follow.

Ted and Betsy live in Brooklyn, New York, where they share their home with their cat, Sophie.

In 1994 Ted was awarded a Caldecott Honor for his illustrations in Peppe The Lamplighter.

In 2007 he won a Silver Medal in the Society of Illustrators Annual Show, and the 2007 Hamilton King award for the best illustration in the Society of Illustrators Annual Show, done by a member of the Society of Illustrators.

In 2015 Ted and Betsy Lewin were inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.